An engaging and timely family tale.
A novel offers a domestic drama that focuses on social issues plaguing a community.
Reagan Ramsey is a widowed mother of two who has a lot on her plate. Her son, Matthew, is lonely as he adjusts to life without his father, and her daughter, Lizzie, has Down syndrome and autism. One evening, following a rare night out for drinks at an Irish pub named Molly Malone’s, Reagan is standing in a parking lot and witnesses a drive-by shooting (“A deafening pop, pop, pop sounded, and she turned toward the noise”). While Reagan gets swept up in a police investigation, she struggles with a heady combination of fear, anxiety, and grief. Meanwhile, Jake Dekker is equally stressed. He loves his wife, Janet, but his stepson, Alex, is proving to be a problem in their marriage. Alex, after getting injured in a car accident, goes on a joyride with his friends shortly after. His pal who is driving hits a jogger with his car. The hit-and-run incident and the subsequent fear of getting caught hang over Alex like a dark cloud. Jake, who met Reagan at Molly Malone’s the night of the shooting, eventually decides to take Matthew under his wing, shouldering some of her burden while developing a positive relationship with her son. Veraar’s novel aims to shed light on how specific societal ills (namely, drugs and violence) impact families. Throughout her tale, readers see how these problems bleed into families until many members of a community are connected through trauma. The author deftly shows how such issues are compounded by the stressors of everyday life. In addition, Veraar excels at character development. Reagan, for example, is already beleaguered when she witnesses the shooting. Then her fear and paranoia escalate when she is visited by a creepy former student and Lizzie disappears. Later, Reagan begins therapy and helps out with the shooting investigation. The story’s subject matter is similarly intriguing; it is topical and relatable, particularly regarding the drug epidemic outlined in the tale. But the prose sometimes feels rudimentary and the dialogue a bit trite—Reagan at one point exclaims “Booyah!” in celebration. Still, Veraar’s story is engrossing and accessible.
An engaging and timely family tale.Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2023
ISBN: 9798986734309
Page Count: 324
Publisher: GG Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A tender and moving portrait about the transcendent power of art and friendship.
An artwork’s value grows if you understand the stories of the people who inspired it.
Never in her wildest dreams would foster kid Louisa dream of meeting C. Jat, the famous painter of The One of the Sea, which depicts a group of young teens on a pier on a hot summer’s day. But in Backman’s latest, that’s just what happens—an unexpected (but not unbelievable) set of circumstances causes their paths to collide right before the dying 39-year-old artist’s departure from the world. One of his final acts is to bequeath that painting to Louisa, who has endured a string of violent foster homes since her mother abandoned her as a child. Selling the painting will change her life—but can she do it? Before deciding, she accompanies Ted, one of the artist’s close friends and one of the young teens captured in that celebrated painting, on a train journey to take the artist’s ashes to his hometown. She wants to know all about the painting, which launched Jat’s career at age 14, and the circle of beloved friends who inspired it. The bestselling author of A Man Called Ove (2014) and other novels, Backman gives us a heartwarming story about how these friends, set adrift by the violence and unhappiness of their homes, found each other and created a new definition of family. “You think you’re alone,” one character explains, “but there are others like you, people who stand in front of white walls and blank paper and only see magical things. One day one of them will recognize you and call out: ‘You’re one of us!’” As Ted tells stories about his friends—how Jat doubted his talents but found a champion in fiery Joar, who took on every bully to defend him; how Ali brought an excitement to their circle that was “like a blinding light, like a heart attack”—Louisa recognizes herself as a kindred soul and feels a calling to realize her own artistic gifts. What she decides to do with the painting is part of a caper worthy of the stories that Ted tells her. The novel is humorous, poignant, and always life-affirming, even when describing the bleakness of the teens’ early lives. “Art is a fragile magic, just like love,” as someone tells Louisa, “and that’s humanity’s only defense against death.”
A tender and moving portrait about the transcendent power of art and friendship.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9781982112820
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
A steamy, romantic summer read with a charming setting.
A florist attempts to avoid her best friend’s brother—and their powerful chemistry—on Prince Edward Island.
When Lucy Ashby visits her best friend Bridget’s family home on Prince Edward Island for the first time, Bridget gives her three rules: Eat your weight in oysters….Leave the city behind. And, most importantly, Don’t fall in love with my brother. Unfortunately for Lucy, she sleeps with Felix basically the second her plane lands, unaware that he’s Bridget’s brother until it’s too late. Lucy has never felt understood or accepted by her immediate family, and Bridget is one of the very few people she allows into her inner circle, so Lucy’s desperate to abide by these rules. And so she and Felix try to avoid each other on every one of Lucy’s visits to PEI over the years. And, of course, they fail spectacularly, always returning to each other when they’re in between relationships. But it’s never been anything serious…Lucy makes sure of that, backing off whenever her emotions feel too strong. In her “real life” back in Toronto, it’s easier for Lucy to avoid thinking of Felix as she runs a busy floral shop, working herself into the ground. But when Bridget asks Lucy to come to PEI for an emergency girls’ trip less than two weeks before Bridget is supposed to get married, Lucy drops everything to be there for her best friend. She doesn’t expect to find Felix there, along with feelings that are stronger and more difficult than ever to ignore. Even more than jeopardizing her relationship with Bridget, Lucy is afraid that giving in to her feelings could ruin the life she’s worked so hard to build. Fortune, the author of hits like Every Summer After (2022), gives readers another refreshingly summery story full of angst, romance, and sex scenes aplenty. The PEI setting is a beautiful backdrop for Lucy and Felix’s secret hookups and Lucy’s journey of self-discovery as she learns how to stand on her own two feet as a business owner, friend, and daughter. In addition to frequent (and welcome) Anne of Green Gables references, there are oysters galore and many sandy, windy scenes that transport readers straight to the island.
A steamy, romantic summer read with a charming setting.Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9780593638880
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
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